Scott Dikkers

Before the talk, do some research on Scott Dikkers. What is one surprising fact you learned about him? Does this help you provide context for his talk?

One surprising fact that I learned about Scott Dikkers before seeing him speak was that he was ranked by Rolling Stone Magazine as one of America’s top ten favorite writers for the comic, “Jim.” This helps me provide context for his talks because it gives him undeniable credibility and critical acclaim.

Pay attention to the scene as Scott talks during his lecture. What do you notice? Take a photo and include it in your post as well.

I noticed that Scott Dikkers very rarely stood behind the podium and I noticed that he did not pace back and forth very much, which I preferred. I liked that he did not walk around the stage because it allowed me to sit comfortably and not have to constantly adjust myself according to his movement amongst the stage. Mr. Dikkers did a great job at captivating his audience with humor and promoting laughter throughout his speech, obviously this was not a challenge for him. Additionally, when he was faced with the adversity of what seemed to be walkie talkie noise, he addressed the noise and made a joke about how it could be him or somebody “getting arrested.”

Write down something Scott says and fact check it. Is he right? Wrong? Somewhere in between?

I attempted to fact-check Scott Dikkers’ claim that, and I paraphrase, “People who are fully committed and all in on achieving their goals versus somebody who is half-heartedly committed to achieving their goals are much more likely to achieve their goals rather than the later.” I would say that Mr. Dikkers is right because as I fact-checked his statement a number of articles talked about goal achievement is much more likely when it is written down or very deliberate. More specifically, people with written goals are 50% more likely to achieve than people without goals. So I believe that this harkens back to being fully committed to one’s goal.

Summarize in a paragraph the point of the talk.

In summary, Scott Dikkers’ talk was about how he was able to achieve success in the entertainment industry despite starting from an imporabable position. Dikkers’ hometown library had one book on how to be successful in entertainment and it was about being a successful ventriloquist. He talked about how he really gained popularity when he bought the onion for three thousand dollars from two UW-Madison students whom were running the satirical comedy paper out of their dorm room. Eventually, he was able to bring the satirical paper to New York and the company, “The Onion” was really beginning to take off. However, it was not his or the company’s ultimate success that he discussed most, but it was the process to how he got there. In particular, Mr. Dikkers talked about how to be an effective boss and how to make proper decision making. Hence, the talk was very useful and inspiring because it was great to hear and listen to a guy who was able to achieve great success from starting from the most humble beginnings and with people who were not honors students, but with people who were average joe’s.

Now write a headline that summarizes the talk.

Peel back the Onion: The Process of the Onions Success

At the end of his talk, find someone at the event that you don’t already know and ask them what stood out to them the most. Include their full name and major or profession.

Katy Calvert. Pure Relations. What stood out most to Katy was that so many people mistook the Onion for real news, most specifically China.

What did this teach you about media writing?

This talk taught me that in media writing comedy can be useful and capture the attention of the audience.

What was most useful to you about this experience?

The most useful thing I learned from this experience was something that he emphasized in his talk and something that I referenced briefly before. He told the audience that when you become a boss, be the best boss your employees will ever have. He continued to say that if you need to have something done or completed; tell your employees about it and let them do it. Scott Dikkers told the audience that the work you need to have get done, as a boss, will get done if you allow the employees to do their work without being overbearing on them and trusting that they will complete the work.

Anything else to add?

I found it very interesting that the people who were writing for the Onion were college dropouts and otherwise, people who would commonly be overlooked. It was great to see and hear that Dikkers got a lot out of these writers and were often people with good ideas. I bring this up because when the norm is to attend college nowadays, I have three really good friends who do not attend college. I found myself sitting there listening to Dikkers with these friends in mind and was feeling inspired for not only me, but for my friends as well.

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